Professor Rebecca Knibb
Professor Rebecca Knibb is Professor of Health Psychology at Aston University with 30 years of experience of conducting research into the psychological impact of allergies. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings in this field. Her research interests include the health-related quality of life and mental well-being of children, adolescents and parents who are managing allergic conditions and asthma. Her research group is running projects to improve understanding of allergy management and improve global access to psychological support for food allergy. They are also currently developing interventions to help patients and families manage food allergy anxiety.
She is the Chair of the Psychology Working Group for the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology and sits on the UK Expert Advisory Group for Allergy. She is also a member of European Association for Allergy and Clinical Immunology Task Force groups, including a Task Force to investigate the impact of allergy on adolescents.
Professor Christina Jones
Chrissie Jones is Professor in Clinical Health Psychology, Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Chrissie currently works in the Department of Psychological Interventions within the School of Psychology at the University of Surrey. Prior to joining the University of Surrey, Chrissie spent 12 years at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School starting out in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, before moving to the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine.
Chrissie’s main research focuses on the design and evaluation of psychological and behavioural interventions for individuals and their families, with long term conditions (e.g., allergy, diabetes, and respiratory disease) and mental health comorbidities, placing strong emphasis on involving patients and public in the research she undertakes. Chrissie has expertise in multi-method evaluations and synthesising current evidence using systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
Dr Béré Mahoney
Dr Béré Mahoney is a Principal Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Worcester, and Social Science Lead at the Three Counties Medical School. Dr Mahoney, an experienced academic and interdisciplinary researcher, publishes work on patients’ experiences of living with long-term conditions, along with the experiences and training needs of healthcare professionals supporting them.
Dr Mahoney has a special interest in allergy and works with colleagues in the NHS and pharma industry supporting those living with allergy. Her current allergy related research focuses on vaccine hesitancy among individuals diagnosed with, or who self-identify as having, an allergy. Dr Mahoney is also engaged actively as a reviewer, invited editorial writer and guest editor for international peer review health journals.
Anne McDonnel
Anne McDonnell is a Nurse Specialist (Children and Young People (CYP): Allergy and Immunology) and recipient of an NIHR ICA Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF). Anne is currently undertaking a MA in Research Methods (MARM) (Health) at the University of Nottingham.
Anne’s research area of interest is the emotional and mental health needs of parents and caregivers of CYP with food allergy. Anne’s master’s level dissertation comprises a qualitative study exploring psychological models of uncertainty and the impact or uncertainty, ‘not knowing’, on the psychological wellbeing of parents and caregivers of children with food allergy.
Dr Anand Srivastava
Dr Anand Srivastava currently works at Kings Mill Hospital as a consultant paediatrician with interest in allergy; and also manages an outreach allergy clinic at Newark Hospital- both under Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. His current clinical work involves managing allergy patients of all types (with a focus on food allergy) referred by primary care within and beyond the region. He will be taking over as the Clinical Lead at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
He received his training in paediatrics at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Delhi, India, then after spending some years in middle east, in 2010, he moved to the UK and after completing training at Nottingham University Hospitals, joined as a consultant in paediatrics at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where he continued to develop his interest in allergy and medical education. While working as a consultant in Paediatrics, he completed Masters in Allergy from Imperial College London.
Currently he is the trust lead for undergraduate medical education in Paediatrics and last year was awarded the title of Honorary Asst Professor by University of Nottingham School of Medicine. Recently, he was further appointed as an examiner by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
His research interests include impact of allergy education on health related quality of life, and food allergy and anxiety. He is also working on how to improve the quality of medical education and health care in low and middle income countries.
Dr Francesca Sawer
Francesca is an experienced clinical psychologist specialising in paediatrics, currently working full time in NHS, working in both paediatric services and at the University of Leeds on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology training course.
She previously led the psychology team at the Children’s Allergy Service at the Evelina Children’s Hospital and remains hugely passionate about working with children and families with allergies. As well as the BSACI special interest group, she sits on the board as a clinical advisor with the Sadie Bristow foundation.